Sting defeated Bobby Roode in a surprisingly decent Lumberjack match. To be honest I wasn't really expecting much from this bout but both men put in a good effort and the crowd were certainly well behind 'The Stinger', creating a great atmosphere. Afterwards Hogan called Sting Impact's "number one" guy, wrongly ahead of the younger and clearly more talented (now that is) certain other wrestlers on the roster, and announced that Sting will be facing Roode for the World title at Slammiversary. I was hoping for the return of the King of the Mountain match myself.
Bully Ray called out Joseph Parks and presented footage from last week where he attacked him with his trademark chain. After mocking Parks and his family, Joseph decided to enter the ring with Bully. After refusing to fight, Bully informed Parks that he was the one responsible for taking out his brother Abyss which caused Parks to grab Ray. A shocked 'Calfzilla' suddenly threatened to sue if Parks hurt him so he let Ray leave. On his way out Parks challenged Bully to a fight, so he agreed, but to fight at Slammiversary instead.
Austin Aries (c) defeated Chris Sabin to retain the X Division Championship. It was a brilliant contest between the two big talents, trading counter for counter with some traditionally exciting X Division moves at a fast pace. Worth checking out if you watch anything from the show. Judging by Sabin's reaction at the end I reckon there may be a heel turn in the near future for him possibly.
We were shown earlier footage of Taz, Bruce Pritchard and Al Snow as the Gut Check judges discussing the possibility and promise of last weeks contender the charismatic Joey Ryan. I personally don't mind these segments, there's a refreshing air of reality compared to most of TNA with them. Although I still hate the over the top reality show music that plays in the background.
Dixie Carter said that at Slammiversary they will have their first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame announced, something which I feel is far, far too premature. Their own Hall of Fame and they've only been running for just under ten years? She then also introduced the new head of the Knockouts Division Brooke Hogan. A choice which has been met with much bemusement and distain by most fans, including myself admittedly.
Brooke went on to state how passionate and excited she was about this new opportunity in TNA. Hopefully I'm proven wrong and she does a good job, but after witnessing what happened the last time someone with authority had their child come in (Garet, I'm looking at you) I'm not so optimistic.
Jeff Hardy versus Devon (c) for the TNA Television title ended in a disqualification after Robbie E and Robbie T both ran in and attacked the competitors. It had been a quite drab match up until the end, and I wasn't too fussed when it was over.
We were then shown a VT of James Storm on his ranch with his daughter, discussing the events of Lockdown and what his next step might be. Storm asked for the filming to stop after his daughter asked if he'll be going back to wrestling.
In the ring the three Gut Check judges voted two to one to not offer Joey Ryan a contract. It eventually came down to Taz's final vote, who said "No" and then got into an argument with the charismatic Ryan. The fact that Silva was offered a contract and Ryan wasn't is ridiculous. Ryan oozes character and proved himself in the ring, looking like he belonged and getting a big reaction from the fans in the arena and online. While Alex Silva was decent in the ring, he lacked any character and looked nervous and out of his depth in TNA. Hopefully his heated argument with Taz is going to lead to a return.
AJ Styles defeated Christopher Daniels in a brilliant main event. As expected both men put on a great display of exciting and crisp action. Although I feel Daniels versus Styles has been done to death almost, they still can't fail to produce in the ring each time.
Afterwards Daniels and Kazarian began attacking Styles until Kurt Angle raced in to his aid. But this was short lived as Kaz and 'The Fallen Angel' also took out Angle. Daniels then presented a recording of a phone conversation between Dixie Carter and AJ where it sounded as though they were meeting up in secret. Carter then came racing out and in her only decent acting performance I can remember furiously demanded that the recording be stopped. In a nice touch you could still hear her shouting as the show was going off the air and the Spike logo showed. it was a nice end to the show I thought.
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